Principles of crop rotation

♤ Leguminous crops should be grown before non-legumi-nous crops because legumes fix atmospheric N into the soil and add organic matter to the soil.

♤ Crops with tap roots (deep rooted like cotton) should be followed by those which have fibrous (shallow rooted crops like sorghum or maize) root system. This facilitates proper and uniform use of nutrients from the soil.

♤ More exhaustive crops should be followed by less exhaustive crops because crops like potato, sugarcane, maize etc. need more inputs such as better tillage, more fertilizers, greater number of irrigation etc.

♤ Selection of crop should be based on need or demand

♤ Crops of same family should not be grown in succession because they act as alternate hosts for insect pests and diseases

♤ The selection of crops should suit farmers financial conditions

♤ The crop selected should also suit to the soil and climatic condition